Trenton man's sentence for near-fatal stabbing postponed

TRENTON — A city resident’s sentence for attempted murder was postponed yesterday to give doctors a chance to determine his mental fitness.

Lee Eric Funderburg, 25, of Edgewood Avenue was convicted in February of stabbing his ex-girlfriend’s new beau during an argument in 2009.

Jurors also found him guilty of aggravated assault and weapons offenses in the attack that left 26-year-old Leno Parham near death.

Yesterday, Superior Court Judge Mark Fleming postponed Funderburg’s sentence to allow doctors at the Ann Klein Forensic Center for mentally ill criminals to finish evaluating his fitness to be sentenced. Funderburg was transferred to the Ewing facility for acting out in the county detention center shortly after his conviction.

“Voices were telling him to kill himself,” said Dariusz Chacinski, a psychiatrist who appeared in court yesterday. “He cut his wrists and was banging his head.”

Funderburg, who was free on bail during his trial, did not show up in court to hear the jury’s verdict. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest, and Funderburg turned himself in two days later.

Jurors deliberated four days before finding Funderburg guilty of attempted murder when he stabbed Parham during an argument outside Funderburg’s parent’s house on Hillcrest Avenue in February 2009.

Funderburg was angry that Parham had a habit of accompanying his girlfriend, Terra Andrews, when she came to Funderburg’s place to pick up their son. Andrews was Funderburg’s ex-girlfriend.

Parham was stabbed once in the heart and once in the lung. He flagged down a passing motorist who drove him to a hospital. He survived the wound after undergoing emergency surgery.